U.S. States ‘Poorly Prepared’ For Radiation Emergency | TPMMuckraker

The study found several gaps in states’ radiation emergency preparedness. For one, the survey reports that 73% of states “reported having minimal (53%) or no (21%) plans to conduct population-based exposure monitoring.” Meanwhile, only 13% of states surveyed reported having “any written or detailed operations plan for radiologic analyses of biological or clinical samples.” And 42% of states reported little or no planning to test first responders for radiation contamination.

“Few reported having sufficient resources to do public health surveillance, radiation exposure assessment, laboratory functions and other capabilities,” the study says.